You might not have heard the Escambia County Children’s Trust has a Needs Assessment on its website and is asking for public input through Wednesday, Aug. 31.
The Needs Assessment will guide the Trust’s strategic plan and budget. The assessment’s data sets a baseline to track the success of the programs that Trust Board decides to fund. The Needs Assessment dives into the context surrounding 24 indicators where disparities exist by asking three questions about each data point.
Why does this matter? The data profiled in this report shines a light on the state of youth and families and helps us make informed decisions about where change is possible. This matters as we embark on investing in effective programs that can be replicated, removing barriers, and strengthening interventions to better meet the needs of children.
Where do we stand? We measure and track outcomes historically and compare ourselves to the state of Florida and the U.S. whenever we can. We also disaggregate data by variables such as race/ethnicity so we can see where disparities and uneven opportunities exist.
What can we do about it? What does effective implementation of a program that helps children at scale look like? How do we ensure all agencies have the structure and staffing in place to manage, analyze and share data to take action to support children, youth and families?
“All the references and citations are in there,” Executive Director Tammy Greer told her board. “So if there are any people like me who are data nerds, and you want to go and look at all the stuff and see where we got all this that’s in there. We’re also going to include the public comments that are received through the process over the next three weeks so that everybody knows that their voice was heard and recorded.”
She added, “If they don’t have access to the technology and they don’t want to sit and scroll through online. I can mail them a copy, they can come by the office and pick it up, they can ask me and I’ll email it. So however people need to get this, we will get it to them.”
The Needs Assessment has four themes with several indicators to track under each:
Theme 1: Children Are Healthy
Indicators
Maternity: Infant mortality, Low birthweight, Prenatal care, Teen pregnancy
Child’s Health: Oral health, Childhood obesity, Bacterial STD rate among children 0-18
Theme 2: Children Are Ready to Succeed in School and Life
Indicators
Age 0-5: VPK participation, Quality child care, Kindergarten readiness
Age 5-18: Chronic absences
Elementary: Third Grade Reading proficiency
Middle: Math proficiency
High School: Graduation
Theme 3: Children Are Not Abused or Neglected
Indicators
Substance-exposed newborns
Foster care placements
Children with verified maltreatment
Domestic violence
Theme 4: Children Have Supports to Help Them Avoid Risky Behaviors
Indicators
Childhood hunger
Youth arrests
School suspensions
School arrests & referrals to law enforcement
Youth mental health
Hospitalizations from mental disorders
You can provide input via the website.
Note: Water safety doesn’t fit any of the indicators.